


Boom Boom Pow

by spider_lily



Category: Love Simon (2018), Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
Genre: Bar & Bat Mitzvah, M/M, Middle School, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Shy Bram, mentions of divorce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-20 23:57:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14272365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spider_lily/pseuds/spider_lily
Summary: Bram Greenfeld meets Simon Spier at Nick Eisner’s bar mitzvah when they are thirteen. The DJ lets the beat rock and Simon shows off his moves.





	Boom Boom Pow

Bram had to _beg_ his parents to let him come to Nick Eisner’s bar mitzvah, and really it was only the lucky fact that Nick’s birthday was in the summer that his parents finally caved and made the three-and-a-half hour drive from Savannah to the suburb on the outskirts of Atlanta that Nick called home.

In hindsight, Bram knew that a lot of other factors had been at play too. He was even more introverted in middle school than in high school, believe it or not, and he hadn’t exactly been the most popular black boy at Thomas Jefferson Middle School. His only friends at the time had been made through soccer, but his school didn’t have a team and he usually had to travel for summer leagues. That’s how he met Garrett Laughlin, his best friend, and through Garrett, Nick Eisner. Bram and Nick got along well enough, bonding over the fact that they were both technically only half Jewish--Bram’s mother was Episcopalian, and Nick’s mother was a Catholic Hispanic.

Still, Bram wasn’t exactly expecting the invitation. Hence the begging. He started to regret wanting to come so badly when his parents started arguing before they even left the house and a stony silence enveloping the car for the first 45 minutes of the drive.

Eventually the atmosphere cooled, his parents started tentatively speaking again, and Bram allowed himself to become excited. His own bar mitzvah wouldn’t be until next January (he was one of the youngest in his class, having skipped a year in elementary) and he wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Sure, the ceremony itself would be interesting, but the party that followed was the part Bram was looking forward to. There would be food and dancing, and he would be able to meet some of Garrett and Nick’s other friends. He could possibly even make more friends himself. What an idea.

When the Greenfelds arrived in Atlanta, their first stop was to their hotel room to check in and freshen up. Bram was a ball of nervous energy, and he was already feeling nauseated. He hadn’t seen Garrett or Nick yet since the summer soccer league hadn’t started practices, and the last time they had all hung out together had been a year ago. Would they even be excited to see him? Was the invitation just a courtesy, and were they hoping he wouldn’t actually come? Bram tried to quell the uneasy feeling in his stomach. It was just nerves, that’s all. Of course they would be excited to see him.

\--

Bram’s parents resumed their prior argument in the hotel room, resulting in them being twenty minutes late for the ceremony. Bram’s mom was embarrassed and flustered as they tried to creep as silently as possible into the synagogue and find seats in the back, and his dad had a cold, stern expression as he silently glared to the front of the large meeting space, where a nervous-looking Nick was chanting a reading from the Torah.

The rest of the ceremony drags on, then the entire congregation is retiring to a reception hall for food and dancing. There are tables lining the hall with a large open space in the middle, and a DJ has already hooked up his equipment and is preparing a mix of 2009’s hottest pop hits.

Lady Gaga’s _Just Dance_ started thumping through the speakers, and an assorted group of middle schoolers and early high schoolers start slowly shifting toward the dance floor, bobbing a bit and waiting for someone-- _anyone_ \--to start really dancing.

Bram spots Garrett in a crowd of mostly boys and makes his way over to him. Garrett spots him right off the bat and shouts, “Bram! What’s up, dude?”

Bram chuckles. “Nick’s bar mitzvah,” he deadpans.

Garrett bursts into wild laughter, and Bram notices that they’ve both grown in the year since they’ve seen each other. Garrett’s voice is starting to crack, sometimes going too high as he hits notes that are getting more difficult for his deeper voice to reach. “Man, I have missed you!” he said. “Come on, let’s find Nick and we’ll introduce you to the others.”

Nick is standing only a few feet away with a small group of guys and girls. Most of the introductions are lost on Bram, but he recognizes Simon and Leah from stories Nick has told at camp. Nick, Simon, and Leah have been inseparable since kindergarten, and the three of them have the kind of close friendship that Bram has always envied in others but never known how to emulate. Leah is a bigger girl with long, reddish brown hair and big brown eyes, and Simon is adorable in a nerdy sort of way with his shaggy blond hair and rectangular glasses. Bram notices that the other boy’s eyes are gray, and for a moment is struck by how unusual that is. Bram smiles shyly at the introductions and lowers his head, already overwhelmed by how many new people there are. He knew this party would be a lot for him to take in. There are too many people, and the music is too loud, and all he really wants is to be at home with his video games and his books. But he’s three and a half hours away from home, so that’s not an option. And he can’t bail on Nick’s party until much later in the night.

As the party continues, Bram is struck by how much Simon is his opposite in every way. Simon is carefree and boisterous, his fun nature and good humor thriving in this atmosphere. The later the party goes, the more people start dancing, and as Bram stands at the edge of the group, awkwardly bobbing his head to the beat of Flo Rida’s _Right Round_ , Simon is in his element. The other boy is singing along to the music, on-key where everyone else is off, spinning and jumping along to the beat.

But then… then he starts _dancing_. It should have been awful, really. And it was. Simon was a terrible dancer. Absolutely the worst. Bram could think of no other description than _white_ to describe the travesty that was happening before his eyes.

As _Right Round_ started to fade and another song started to blare over the speakers, Simon was one of the first to recognize the beat. “Yes!” he yelled as the opening bars of _Boom Boom Pow_ by the Black Eyed Peas started to fill the meeting hall of the synagogue. “This is my jam!”

Bram, Garrett, Nick, and Leah could only stare on in horror as Simon started to pop and lock to the beat. Well… attempt to pop and lock. It looked more like he was trying to stave off an aborted seizure, and the secondhand embarrassment was so real that Bram had to look away. His eyes started drifting over to the tables where the parents and some of the “too cool” older siblings and “too little” younger siblings were lingering. Bram noticed two girls with hair and features very similar to Simon’s dying with laughter next to a couple who had to be their parents who were staring at the scene in horror.

It was agonizing, it was nauseating, and yet… Simon had a certain freedom that Bram worried he would never have. Bram didn’t think he could ever get in front of a crowd like this without inhibition and dance like no one was watching. As Bram finally summoned the courage to look again at Simon, he noticed that the boy was still dancing, still making a fool of himself, and yet still smiling. His eyes were alight with happiness, and he was grinning so wide that Bram could see his dimples and his eyes were crinkly in the outer corners. Nick and Leah were still laughing, but had joined Simon in his wonky white boy impersonation of the pop and lock, Garrett was starting to join in too, and the others mingling around the dance floor were starting to dance without fear of embarrassment.

Bram was still too shy to do anything more than laugh gently and continue bobbing his head, but he was struck in that moment by how quickly Simon had turned the crowd. Simon had a presence that made others around him light up, and it seemed to Bram that that was something special and something entirely _Simon_ , even though he had just met the guy.

\--

Bram didn’t have his sexual awakening until a year later--at his dad’s wedding to his stepmom, no less. His stepmom’s second cousin was a tall, slim man with blond hair that, in retrospect, did remind Bram quite a bit of Simon’s.

Bram wouldn’t move to Shady Creek until freshman year of high school, and on his first day at Creekwood High, Garrett lead him to a lunch table occupied by some new faces and a few familiar ones. Nick Eisner was still Nick Eisner, even though his hair was longer. Leah Burke still had large brown eyes and long hair, but now she kept it tied back in a braid. And then… there was Simon. Simon Spier. He had gotten taller, and he no longer wore glasses, which meant that Bram got the full effect of Simon’s gray eyes as they looked as him kindly.

Then, as Bram was about to point out that he remembered Simon and Leah from Nick’s bar mitzvah, Simon held out his hand and said, “Hey, I’m Simon. You’re Bram, right? Garrett and Nick have mentioned you, I think.”

All the words Bram had been about to say were forgotten, dead in his throat. He could only nod and flush, although luckily the blush was less notable on his dark complexion. Of course Simon didn’t remember him. Bram hadn’t exactly been a memorable presence at the bar mitzvah, so it only stood to reason that Simon didn’t remember. Bram couldn’t lie to himself--he was disappointed. The Simon he remembered from a couple years ago was adorable in his own way, but ninth-grade-Simon was something else entirely. He was so cute that Bram couldn’t think straight, and _he didn’t remember Bram._

Bram stayed silent and observed as the conversation continued around him. Without him. And from that day forward, Bram Greenfeld would freeze up in the presence of Simon Spier.


End file.
